Chasing the Moon
by Writey Starkid
Summary: When werewolf Scorpius Malfoy transforms during a Quidditch Match and kills a student, he and James Potter II run away from Hogwarts. Really basic summary. JamesxScorpius
1. The Match

_Hey everyone, this is a JamesxScorpius fic I've been working on. You may want to read my explanation of my view of the NextGen world, if you haven't already, and you can do so by clicking on that nice little button leading to my profile. I don't think you don't really have to read it to understand this story, but if you get confused..._

_Obviously yaoi! I'm trying to work on the spacing so it's easier to read, so my my apologies if said spacing is a little weird. Here's Chapter One. I hope you like it! _

_If I owned Harry Potter, Draco would have admitted his love for Luna long ago._

**Chasing the Moon**

**A Second Generation Fic **

**by RL**

**A Scor & Elsie Fic**

**The Match**

James Sirius Potter circled high above the Quidditch Pitch, straining to see in the slowly fading light. The Snitch was down there somewhere, and with Ravenclaw already forty points ahead, he would have to catch it if they even wanted a _tie_. Unfortunately, this game had been going on for hours, and his eyes were beginning to hurt from scanning the Pitch.

"Oi, Potter! Out of the way!" Elsie Malfoy, Ravenclaw Chaser, came zooming vertically towards him from below, the Quaffle clutched under her arm. James jerked his _Lightning 3000 _back, making room for her as well as the furious Gryffindor Chasers coming after her. He grinned as his friend's blond hair whipped by, then circled lower, constantly searching. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark much faster now. The crowd roared as Albus Potter's voice echoed out into the night: "RAVENCLAW SCORES!" James groaned, then thought, _Poor Al._ His brother, normally a Keeper for the Gryffindor team, had badly broken an arm, and despite Madam Pomfrey's best efforts, it was healing slowly. Thus, he was forced to content himself with running commentary on the game. There! The Snitch fluttered in front of James' face for a moment, then zipped away. He swiftly went into a dive, hand outstretched, determined to catch the little golden orb. His fingers brushed the smooth, shining surface…

A Bludger came whirling out of nowhere, slamming into the Snitch and knocking it away. It disappeared within moments. James caught a glimpse of Elsie's twin brother, Scorpius, flying nearby. The Beater flashed James a quick grin before diving out of the way of another player.

"Come on, Wolfy, don't you know that the sooner I catch the Snitch, the sooner we can all go to bed?" James muttered, rising higher in the air to resume his search. Night had fully fallen, and darkness enveloped the Pitch. A thin silver light began to appear as the moon slowly rose. James glanced casually over. It had been full four days ago, and should be at half by now…his head whipped around. A huge silver orb rose in the sky. James felt frozen. A blue moon. The second full moon in a month. None of them had anticipated this. Which meant Scorpius hadn't taken his potion….James spun around. Scorpius, whacking away a Bludger, hadn't noticed the moon yet, but his sister had. James locked eyes with Elsie, and they both dove. As they did so, Scorpius turned and saw the full moon looming in the sky. He went completely still, staring at that great, glowing ball. The whistle for time sounded somewhere below, but James and Elsie had caught up to Scorpius, and they had no thought for anything else, because Scorpius was a werewolf. A werewolf who had not taken his Wolfsbane potion that night.

Scorpius shuddered all over as his friends reached him. He let out a gasping breath. "Scor, hang on, okay? Just hang on to your broom, we'll get you down," Elsie said desperately, moving one hand to clutch her brother's broom. James did the same on the other side.

"Come on, Scor, just hang on, hang on…." James gave a nod to Elsie, and the two began a descent as rapidly and safely as they could, pulling Scorpius down with them. The young werewolf, Beater's bat long since dropped to the ground, gripped the handle of his broom and let out a strangled cry of pain. "Hang on, hang on," James muttered as Scor's back arched and his robes began to split at the spine. His face was beginning to change by the time James felt his feet hit the ground. Dimly aware of the teachers shouting for the spectators to remain in the stands, he tossed his broom aside and knelt down next to Scorpius, who was on all fours, shaking and frothing at the mouth.

Elsie touched her brother's shoulder. "Scor, can you hear me? We have to get away from the Pitch. Scor?"

Scorpius' eyes had been tightly closed, but now they sprang open as his transformation was completed. Elsie and James leapt back as the werewolf raised his head and let out a long, mournful howl. He stopped, sniffed the air, and began to run towards the stands. Peering ahead, James saw a human figure break into a run. The figure shrieked, and Scorpius let out a growl in response, doubling his speed. Without thinking, James leapt on his broom and took off after them, Elsie in pursuit.

"MR. POTTER! MISS MALFOY! COME BACK AT ONCE!" Professor McGonagall shouted from behind them. Neither took any notice. Catching up, James saw that the figure being pursued was a Slytherin First Year, having disobeyed the teachers and left the stands in her own attempt to run for the castle. Scorpius was gaining quickly, and James could hear him panting in exhilaration from his height six feet above. The girl stumbled and fell to the ground with another shriek. Scorpius leapt. James urged his _Lightning _forward, spinning and jumping off to land on the ground in front of Scorpius. The werewolf had the hysterical Slytherin girl pinned down, his snout inches from her face, quivering in anticipation. He raised one front paw and scratched her down the side of her face, causing her to scream in pain.

"Scor!" James said. "Stop!"

Scorpius looked up with a growl of annoyance. Seeing James, the fur on his spine ruffled, and he growled again, swiping out with one front paw. The meaning was clear: _Mine._

"Scor, _no," _James pleaded. "You can't hurt her. It's me, Scor. James. Your friend." He could hear Professor McGonagall shouting for him to get away, and Elsie shrieking in rage as several teachers held her back, but he ignored them. Scorpius was staring intently at him, those silver eyes he knew so well studying him. The werewolf stretched his head forward until his cool, wet snout was touching James' nose. Then he shook himself, and casually swiped the girl aside. James gave a gasp of horror. He had been so intent on catching up to his friend that he hadn't noticed where they were….what tree they were near. The Whomping Willow shook in anger as the Slytherin girl slammed into its trunk with a sickening_ crack_ and fell limp to the ground, head thrown back. The first of the tree's branches began to lash at her.

"Scor!" James gasped, tearing his eyes away from the body. "Scor, you have to run! Now! The Ministry will lock you up. Go!" Scorpius, however, seemed far more intent on sniffing James' robes thoroughly before pawing at the ground.

"Scor!" The teachers were rushing towards them, wands out. James spotted his broom on the ground and grabbed it. Leaping on, he soared into the air. Scorpius gave a growl of annoyance and looked up. Praying that his idea would work, James flew off towards the edge of the grounds. Scorpius shook himself and loped after him, easily keeping up with the speedy broom. They reached the fence surrounding Hogwarts grounds, and Scorpius jumped over it with astonishing agility before following his flying friend deep into the forest.

Once the teacher's shouts had long since faded behind them, James landed at the base of a massive, sprawling tree. Scorpius trotted into view, apparently unaffected by his gallop through the trees. James sat down against the tree with a sigh and watched as his friend investigated the area, scenting the air and pawing through the leaves strewn about the forest floor. He stiffened suddenly, the fur along his back spiking, and dropped into a crouch on all fours. James tensed and peered into the trees. "Scor? What is it?" Scorpius pounced. The werewolf gave a growl of satisfaction and trotted to James' side, nudging a freshly killed rat into his hand.

"Ergh!" James held the rat up by the tail. Scorpius looked at him beseechingly, tail wagging rapidly in an effort to please. "Uh, thanks, Scor. That looks really good. I, uh, I think I'll save it for later, though. I'm still full from dinner. We had that big feast in the Great Hall, remember?" He gingerly put the rat down on a tree root. Scorpius, momentarily appeased, began to scratch at the ground at the base of the tree. Before long, he had formed a wide, shallow scrape in the earth. Fussily nosing several leaves into place, he settled down in it and looked at James.

"That's nice, Scor."

The young werewolf continued to gaze at him. He gave a small whine and beat his tail against the ground. "Oh…okay." James rested his broom against the tree trunk and stretched out beside his friend. The werewolf gave a sigh and rested his furry head on James' shoulder. Lying on his stomach with his head resting on crossed arms, James stared ahead into the bushes. What in the heck were they going to do now?


	2. In the Woods

_This chapter is dedicated to the memory of the dead snake that is currently in my front lawn. Poor thing._

**In the Woods**

"James?" Scorpius' puzzled voice woke him. "Where are we?"

James sat up to see his friend sitting beside him, blond hair mussed with sleep, looking around in confusion. As was typical of his transformations, he was shirtless, clad only in the pants he had been wearing under his Quidditch robes. A set of scars rested just under the boy's left collarbone, all that remained of a set of lupine jaws that had once clamped themselves around his shoulder. James directed his eyes away, knowing that Scorpius didn't like people looking at his bite.

"Well," James said slowly, "You wolfed out."

"I remember _that_ part," Scorpius said, rolling his eyes and getting to his feet. He took a few steps and jumped back. "Ugh! What is _that?" _

James looked over to see that Scorpius had almost stepped on the dead rat in his bare feet. "Oh. You caught that."

"I did?" Scorpius, an avid vegetarian when not in wolf form, wrinkled his nose. _"Ew." _He looked over at James, clearly intending to make some sort of joke, but he stopped when he saw his friend's face. Walking back over, he sat down next to him. "James. What's wrong? What happened last night?"

James took a deep, shaky breath. He would have to tell him. "There…there was this Slytherin girl…running….and you…well, you chased her…."

"Oh, Merlin, I didn't bite her, did I?" Scorpius paled.

"No, but….." James stared at his feet. "You…oh, Wolfy, she's dead."

Scorpius sat in complete silence for a long moment. "I killed her?" He said finally. James nodded. "I killed her," Scorpius said again. "I…" He began to shake. "I killed a girl. I killed a girl! I killed a girl and a rat! James, what are we gonna do? I'm a monster!"

"Scor, listen to me!" James gripped him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. He swallowed hard. Scor was trembling. "You're no monster," he said firmly. "You couldn't help it. You weren't in your right mind."

"That doesn't change the fact that she's dead, James," Scorpius said softly.

"I know," James answered, releasing him and slumping back against the tree. "I know."

"I'm scared, James," Scorpius whispered, nestling against his side. "I _killed_ somebody. What are we going to do? We can't go back to Hogwarts, and we can't go home, or our parents will send us back."

James closed his eyes and took his friend's shaking hand. They had to go somewhere. Somewhere they wouldn't be found. Somewhere nobody else knew about…. "Grimmauld!" he blurted.

"Huh?" Scorpius lifted his head from his shoulder.

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," James repeated. "It's this hidden house my dad owns. He showed us all how to get into it…Scor, we can go there! There's, like, no one that knows about it! It'll be perfect!"

Scorpius seemed to perk up a bit. "Where is it?"

James deflated.

"What? Where is it?"

"London," he said quietly.

"London?" Scorpius stared at him. "How are we going to get to London?"

James sighed. "I guess we find the nearest road and start walking."


	3. A Ride On the Knight Bus

_I hope you have as much fun reading about the 20-years-later Knight Bus as I did writing about it..._

**A Ride on the Knight Bus**

"Ow!"

"What?" James glanced back over his shoulder.

Scorpius had stopped to rub the bottom of his bare foot. He grinned sheepishly. "Pinecone."

They had been walking for almost an hour, and both boys were beginning to lose hope that they would reach civilization anytime soon. Neither of them had eaten since dinner the night before, and Scorpius being shirtless meant that he soon had several red marks across his chest from the branches that were slapping back in James' wake.

There was a low rumbling sound. "Shut up," James growled at his stomach. The rumble continued.

"James!" Scorpius said suddenly. "I think that's a car!"

They pressed forward through the branches. Sure enough, they were greeted by the sight of a battered blue Volkswagen shuttling off down a dirt road.

"_Great," _James said, relieved. "Now we just have to figure out which way to go."

"I'd say in the direction that car went," said Scor, looking down the road.

"Good idea," James said, taking a step forward. "Let's –"

Scorpius leaped forward and yanked James back as another car went barreling by at a speed that was definitely not legal. Both boys crashed to the ground, James throwing out his hand to break his fall –

BANG!

A massive pastel pink triple-decker bus appeared out of thin air. The two boys sat on the ground, staring up at it uncomprehendingly. A portly middle-aged man stepped out of the bus. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening." He looked down at James and Scorpius, his large ears sticking out to either side like a monkey's. "Well, if this ain't the hundredth time I've picked up sommun on the ground…" He bent down and offered a hand to the two boys, pulling them to their feet with a _poof_ of exhaled breath. "Ain't as young as I used to be…where you two lads wanna go this mornin'?"

"Erm, London," said James, looking up at Stan. "Please."

"Right then, that'll be Eleven Sickles, and fer twelve you get a goblet a' pumpkin juice…" He looked at them expectantly.

James fished in the pocket of his robes and came up with a handful of Sickles. Stan accepted the money and stood aside to let them board.

"'Ere, why ain't you wearin' a shirt?" He asked in bewilderment as Scorpius went by.

"I lost it," Scor answered quickly.

"Well, we can't 'ave that." Stan leapt on board after them, rummaged around in a box for a moment, and then came up with a huge pink t-shirt that proudly declared, "I LOVE FLOBBERWORMS!" "'Ere ya go," he said happily, handing it over.

"Uh, thanks," Scorpius said, pulling on the shirt and looking down at it dubiously while James tried to hide a snigger.

The inside of the bus was filled with tables of every size and style imaginable. Stan led them to one near the back. "Like the color?" he asked, gesturing to the walls of the bus, which were painted the same queasy-looking pink as the outside. "Used't be purple, but we repainted when You-Know-'Oo died, signifyin' the new era and all….matches my knickers, too…"

Neither Scorpius nor James had any desire to see Stan's knickers. They thanked him quickly and sat down at their table.

"What are going to do when we get to Grimmauld Place?" Scorpius asked. "I mean, we can't stay there forever, can we?"

"I don't know," James sighed, staring at the tabletop, then gripping it in surprise as the bus rounded a corner. "We'll just…" he sighed again.

Scorpius sat and looked at him for a long moment, then reached across the table and took his hand. "Did I ever tell you how amazing you are?"

"Shut up," James muttered, blushing.

"It's true," Scorpius persisted, capturing his other hand. "You are. You've got us on our way to somewhere safe – I would have had no idea what to do." A wicked grin spread across his face. "You need to be a bit quicker catching the Snitch, though."

James gave a cry of indignation, but he was grinning now too. "Well, if you hadn't shown up with that Bludger…"

Neither of them let go of the other's hands.


	4. Grimmauld Place

_Sorry I haven't upated in a bit...just for that, I'll give you TWO chapters today! Oh, and Happy day-late Halloween/Samhain...RIP Lily and James..._

_This chapter is where it starts gettin' cute. Jorpius for the win!_

_I don't own HP. Dumbledore does. Wait, what?_

**Grimmauld Place**

"Are you _sure_ this is it?" Scorpius asked, scanning the rows of number plates. "This place looks kind of sketchy, James. I can't even _see_ Number Twelve."

"You can't see it yet, Scor," James said with the grin of someone who knew more than he was letting on.

"Well, go on and let me see it, then," Scorpius said crossly.

James smiled and led him to the part of the street where Numbers Eleven and Thirteen met. And then, before Scorpius' disbelieving eyes, another house emerged, shoving the dwellings on either side out of the way to make room.

"Come on," James said, laughing at the look on Scor's face, and pushed the door open, grabbing the other's hand and pulling him inside.

Scorpius stared in bewilderment at the hallway they had just emerged into. There were a good deal of cobwebs lining the crevices of the building, and resting by a small table was what looked like a severed troll's leg. "Wh-" he started to say, but James clapped a hand over his mouth. Preoccupied by the sensation of the warm hand pressed against his own lips, he allowed himself to be led up the stairs and into a dusty drawing room.

"Sorry," James said, letting go of him. "There's a painting down there that screams if you wake it up."

"S'okay," Scorpius breathed, taking a moment to rein in his emotions. "So…um…how'd you know about this place, again?"

"Dad inherited it from someone," James answered, laying his broomstick down on the floor and fiddling with the gas lamps, then jumping back in surprise as they magically lit themselves. "Like I said, he showed us all how to get in, though I haven't really been beyond this room…."

Scorpius blinked in the sudden light. "Cool." He looked around, noticing the rather dark décor. "Who used to live here, anyway?"

James shrugged. "I don't really know. I'll ask –" They both fell silent, realizing that they had no idea when it would be safe for them to return to their parents.

Scorpius broke the silence. "Do you think we can find an extra shirt or something lying around? I don't think this one's really my style…" he tugged at the edge of his new Flobberworm t-shirt.

James grinned. "Oh, but that one looks so good on you," he teased, then dodged the light punch aimed for his arm and headed for the nearby staircase. "Come on, there might be some stuff upstairs…"

Climbing the stairs, the light from James' wandtip casting strange shadows on the floor, brought them first to an empty bedroom. Farther up the stairs, they came to a landing where two closed doors stood a quiet sentinel before them.

"Hey," James said, staring at the first door. "That's me."

"What are you talking about?" Scorpius asked, peering over his shoulder. A nameplate on the door before them proudly advertised a name: Sirius.

"James Sirius Potter. That's me." Moving slowly, James took a step forward and pushed the door open.

There was no need for wandlight here. The late-afternoon sun streamed in through a dusty window, illuminating a large bedroom that had obviously not been used for some time. Cobwebs had long since claimed the chandelier, and the thick curtains had been chewed by generations of mice. Books and papers had been strewn about the floor.

"Look," James whispered, pointing at several banners lining the walls. "Gryffindor."

"He's a werewolf," Scorpius said absentmindedly, indicating one of four boys in an old photograph.

James turned to look. "How d'you know?"

"Just do. Hey – that one looks kind of like you."

James squinted at one of the other boys in the picture. "No, you know who he looks like? My dad. He looks just like my dad." They stood in silence for a moment, contemplating the photograph.

"This is creepy," James said abruptly. "I don't think there are any clothes up here. Let's go back down." The two made their way quickly back to the lower level, not even bothering to enter the bedroom belonging to Regulus Arcturus Black.

A thorough search of the kitchen revealed that after twenty years of disuse, what little food was left in Grimmauld Place was either covered in mold or reduced to dust. Back in the drawing room, James flopped down on the couch. "Now I almost wish I had eaten that rat you gave me," he said, half-joking. Scorpius grinned, but it was only a flicker of a smile before it was gone. "You okay, Wolfy?" James asked, concerned. "Come sit down."

Scorpius walked slowly over and sat down next to him. "I'm fine. Just…tired, is all."

"Yeah," said James, obviously not believing him. "Me too." He stretched, leaning back his head to gaze up at the dusty ceiling. "It's gotta be, like, seven." Bringing his head back down, he looked at Scorpius. "What say we go to bed early? I mean, who knows what we're gonna be doing tomorrow…."

"Sure," Scorpius said absently. They dragged the couch cushions onto the floor, and Scorpius accepted James' bid that he take the cushions without comment and was soon curled on them, apparently fast asleep.

"Wolfy? You okay?

Scorpius swore mentally, trying to stifle another sob. He heard a creak as James got up from the armchair he had been trying to get comfortable in, and in a moment felt his presence beside him. "I'm fine," he managed to say.

"No, you're not," James said simply, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I killed her," Scorpius whispered before he could stop himself. "I _killed_ her." He turned his head, trying to hide his face in the cushions.

James' hand traveled slowly to his back. "You didn't mean to. You weren't trying to. I _saw. _Werewolf or not, it was an accident."

"But she had a life. She had a name. She had friends, and family, and I took it all away from her." A fresh wave of tears rolled down his face. "I hate myself."

"Don't say that!" James snapped. His hand tensed, then relaxed as he let out a sigh. And then, to Scorpius' surprise, he laid down beside him, sliding an arm around him. "Don't," he said again, and Scorpius' heartbeat quickened as he felt the warm breath close on the back of his neck. "You're a wonderful person."

Scorpius started to laugh through his tears.

"What?" said James, lifting his head in irritation.

"I…don't…know," Scorpius chuckled. "Merlin, James, we'll never get any sleep at this rate." James started to say something, but Scor cut him off by simply taking the hand that was resting against his stomach and squeezing it. They were silent for a long moment.

"James?"

"Yeah, Wolfy?"

"Thanks."

_ Aren't they so flippin' CUTE? SQUEE! Oh yeah, __I figured James I and James II would bear a_ little_ family resemblance...Thanks for reading!_


	5. On the Run Again

_Here's the other chapter I promised..._

_You know, I take that back. I guess now McGonagall owns HP. *sniff* Miss ya, Dumby..._

**On the Run Again**

Scorpius woke to feel James' hand pressed against his lips again. Wondering if this was going to be a regular thing, and musing idly that he wouldn't be too disgruntled if it was, he opened his eyes. James was looking anxiously down at him. Bringing his arm back to his side, he whispered, "Voices." Silently lamenting the loss of the hand, Scorpius lay still. There were indeed voices coming from downstairs, coupled with footsteps. A shock went through him as he recognized one of the voices as belonging to his father.

"My dad must have guessed we'd come here," James whispered. "I think they're in the kitchen. We've got to get out before they see us."

Getting quietly to his feet, Scorpius followed James to the top of the stairs. The glow from the gaslights in the drawing room was lighting up the steps, and Scorpius was just thinking that maybe they should turn them off, when a shadow appeared on the landing. The two boys almost threw themselves backwards, ducking behind the old armchair just in time.

James' father came up the stairs, followed by Scorpius', and a squat, cross –looking wizard the boys guessed was from the Ministry.

"They're not here either," the Ministry wizard puffed, the short climb up the stairs obviously having been too much for him.

"They were, though," Scorpius' father said, looking around. "The lights are on. It looks like they were sleeping on the floor…"

"That's James' broom," his father said, moving to pick it up. Scorpius heard James whisper the quietest oath. "They might still be here – he wouldn't leave this behind."

"Where do you suggest we look, then?" the Ministry Wizard asked irritably.

"Upstairs," James' father said, leading the way.

The instant the three wizards disappeared to the upper level, James and Scorpius tiptoed down the stairs as quickly as they could. Reaching the hall, they broke into a run.  
>"OW!" James yelped, colliding with the troll's leg. It crashed to the ground.<p>

A set of moth-eaten curtains fixed to the wall suddenly flew apart to reveal a portrait of an ancient, black-hatted woman. Rolling her eyes madly, she began to scream: "WEREWOLVES AND BLOOD TRAITORS, BRINGING FILTH TO MY HOUSE –"

James swore loudly as the other paintings lining the hall began to scream as well and they felt, rather than heard, footsteps hurrying down the stairs from above. Both boys ran for the door, Scorpius fumbling with the handle before throwing it open. They burst out into the cool night air, pounding down the street and hearing shouts behind them.

"We have to split up!" James panted. "I'll meet you behind Number Three!" He veered off to the left before Scorpius could answer.

Switching his course to dodge around a pair of stinking rubbish bins and tipping them over behind him for good measure, Scorpius ran as fast as he could, blood pounding in his ears over the sound of his father yelling somewhere behind him, but all he could think about was that after running into that troll's leg, James was bound to be limping –

Having run into the adjacent neighborhood and lost his pursuers, Scorpius cautiously looped back around towards Grimmauld Place. Coming up behind Number Three, he crouched to the ground, breathing hard. His pulse had almost returned to normal when a hoarse voice said, "Scor?"

Scorpius was about to take off again when he realized it was James. "You okay?" he whispered, turning to his friend.

James flopped down on the pavement. "Yeah," he gasped. "You?"

"I'm fine." Scorpius was about to ask how James' flight had gone when a set of voices carried clearly over the house from the street.

"Did you find them?"

"Does it look like I did?"

Automatically grabbing each other's hands, James and Scorpius held as still as possible, hardly daring to breathe as the voice of the winded Ministry wizard wheezed, "It's…obvious that they've…left the…area. We should…return to the Ministry….for further guidance…"

"Hang the Ministry," said Scorpius' father. "They couldn't have gotten far. Do you have any other hideouts around here, Potter?"

"No," James' father answered. "But there is a park a few blocks away. They might have gone there."

"They might have gone to Mars," said Scorpius' father, "But we might as well look." There were three loud cracks as the men Disapparated.

_Oh, oh, looks like our heroes are going to have to be more careful...and now they've lost James' broom as well. In case you're wondering, they didn't ride it to London because the Lightning 3000 can only fit one person. 20 House Points for you if you caught Draco's Starkid reference. I ain't gettin' off this bandwagon..._

_See you next update! _


	6. Caught by the Muggles

_So, yeah...this is where you learn the hard way that I'm a really...bad...updater. But I do update eventually, however long that may take! I'm trying to update more, I really am. I know I'd be so annoyed if I were trying to read this story and I hadn't updated in ages...if that...makes any sense...to me...? Anyway, here's the next chapter of _Chasing the Moon. _Luckily, we're getting to the parts I'm super excited about, so hopefully I'll be updating more. I'll try! Without further ado..._

_Well, okay, with a little more ado. I don't want to accidentally offend anyone who might have a Southern-y accent, which is what Officer Peterson is kind of supposed to have. I apologize; no offense intended. I also apologize if you find if hard to understand what he's saying. Try reading it out loud if you get confused; or just PM me. I do not, however, apologize if you are annoyed by him, because personally, he drives me up the wall..._

_If I owned HP, I'd probably update more often..._

**Caught by the Muggles**

"We can't go back," Scorpius said reasonably. They were sitting on the front step of a closed bakery several streets away from Grimmauld Place. "They're bound to keep an eye on it now."

James leaned back against the hard green wood of the door. "Where else _can_ we go?" he said in frustration. "It's the middle of the night, we're underage, we can't Apparate, we haven't got any Muggle money, and now my dad's got my broom. We're stuck here."

"Maybe we can get the Muggles to help us," Scorpius mused. "We could tell them we're on the run from an evil uncle, like in the stories…"

"Yeah." James leaned sleepily against him. "Or we could find a group of street thieves and join them…or maybe do chores for money….I don't mind cleaning….we could…"

"James."

"We could work for the owner of this store….or look for lost pets…"

"James…"

"Or join the circus…"

"James!"

"What?" He lifted his head.

"I think we're being watched," Scorpius whispered. James saw what he meant; a car had pulled up and was idling at the curb a few feet down the road.

"It might be the baker," James said uneasily. "Maybe we should leave."

They stood and began walking quickly up the street. Behind them, James heard the car's wheels against the pavement and tensed. _It was following them. _He started walking faster, Scorpius doing the same beside him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the car pick up speed. Within moments, it had overtaken them and stopped directly beside the sidewalk. James and Scor froze, unsure of what to do.

The car door opened, shining blue-and-yellow in the glow from a nearby streetlight. A heavyset man forced his considerable bulk out of the car and swaggered up to the two boys. His tiny eyes surveyed Scorpius' pink flobberworm tee and James' Quidditch robes with some bewilderment. "How old ah you boys?" he said finally.

"Thirteen," said Scorpius. James couldn't speak. Had the Muggles been told to look for them as well?

The Muggle lifted his pudgy wrist and made a great show of examining his watch. "And ah you aware that it is approximately three hours past midnaht?"

"No, sir," said Scorpius.

With a snort that sounded suspiciously like the mating call of a Blast-Ended Skrewt, the man bent forward and scrutinized them again. "So whay ah you two out so late? Do yer parents know you're up?"

"Yes," Scorpius answered, a bit too quickly. James groaned mentally. They were in for it.

"Wal then, Ah think Ah'm just gonna have ta give them a call." The Muggle reached into his car and brought out a strange black device. "What're yer telephone numbers?"

Scorpius looked at James for help. James shrugged. "I…don't think we have one of those, sir," Scorpius said after a moment, turning back to the man.

"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow and replaced the black device with a pen and notepad. "Ah'm gonna have ta ask fer yer names, boys."

"Scorpius Malfoy."

"J-James Potter."

The Muggle wrote their names down, the tip of his pudgy tongue sticking out between his lips in concentration. "Wal," he drawled, putting away the notepad and giving the boys what was probably supposed to be a friendly smile, "Since we're introducin' ourselves, Ah'm Officer Peterson. And Ah'm afraid Ah'm gonna have t' ask you boys to hop in mah squad car so's Ah can take you down t' Scotland Yard and we can contact yer parents." He held open the back door of the car. James and Scorpius exchanged terrified looks before getting in, having no idea what else to do. Officer Peterson heaved himself back into the driver's seat and started the car. "Seatbelts on, boys."

Once again, the two boys looked at each other in complete confusion. Seeing the officer pull a strap down from the ceiling and fasten it to something by his waist, they copied his actions, working out how to fit the metal piece into the little slot. The car pulled away from the curb with a rumbling of engines and headed off down the street and into the night. Scorpius leaned over and whispered, "I think we've been picked up by the Muggle Aurors!" James nodded mutely. He was scared stiff, although he was trying not to show it. Some official-sounding Muggle was taking them somewhere to contact their parents, and if he succeeded, they were cooked. And if Officer Peterson _couldn't_ contact their parents…James had no idea what they would do then.

The boys sat in absolute silence as the darkened city flashed by. Officer Peterson fiddled with some switches and music piped scratchily into the car, to which the rotund man sang along with what was probably the worst singing voice James had ever heard. Scorpius, a member of the Hogwarts choir, winced each time the officer hit a particularly wrong note, which was every few minutes.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ride ended. Officer Peterson switched off the music and clambered out of the car, watching with mild bemusement as James and Scorpius scrabbled about trying to get their seatbelts undone. Eventually the two were freed from their restraints and herded into an impressively large building.

"Got two vagabonds here," Officer Peterson announced importantly to the man sitting at a desk inside the double doors. "Don' seem to be able t' tell me where their parents ah…" He escorted them down a shining, slippery hallway and into a small room where two chairs faced a third on either side of a large brown table. Indicating that they should sit, he settled himself into the third chair with a grunt and gave the two boys a "we're-all-friends-here" smile. "Wal naow," he said comfortably, "Y'all gotta understand that I ain't aimin' t' cause trouble here. Ya see, the streets of London at naht ah a _daaaangerous _place, and Ah get worried when Ah see two nahce kids like you out all alone. So ya'll just tell me how Ah can contact yer parents, and this'll all be over and done with and ya can get back ter shootin' marbles or whatever it is you boys like ta do." He smiled again. It made him look like a grimacing pig.

They stared back at him. James felt Scorpius' hand brush his under the table and took hold of it, giving it a nervous squeeze and getting one in return. Something stirred inside him, and he frowned worriedly. _Merlin, I'm not going to be sick, am I? If I throw up in front of this fat Muggle…_

Officer Peterson, misinterpreting the frown, let the smile drop from his face like so much sagging flesh. "Naow, boys, like Ah said, Ah don't wanna hafta cause trouble here. It's gonna be better fer everyone if you just tell me how Ah can get a hold of yer parents." They gave no answer, and after a moment, the officer got to his feet. "Ah'm gonna give you boys a few minutes ta think this ovah," he said softly. "Ah sincerely hope you make the raht decision." He waddled out of the room, locking the door behind him.

The instant he was gone, James started to panic. "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? Wolfy, what are we gonna do? If we let him owl our parents, the Ministry'll lock us up! And if we don't let him owl our parents, he'll lock us up! And we can't even owl our parents anyway because he's a Muggle and they use tell-ya phones or whatever! Wolfy, what are we gonna _do?"_

"James, calm down!" Scorpius grabbed his wrists and gave him a wolf-stare until he stopped hyperventilating enough to pay attention. "Stop freaking out! We can handle this."

"How?" James asked, heart beating even faster despite his friend's words.

"We'll say we're staying with relatives," Scorpius answered, seeming rather preoccupied by his grip on James' arms. "We can fake that."

"But we don't even know anyone around here," James protested. "What are going to tell that Muggle when he wants to talk to them?"

"We say that we live very close to here and convince him to give us a ride to some random address that we'll say is their house," he said.

"Scor, he'll never fall for that!"

"Well, it's all we've got," Scorpius said firmly, releasing him. "We'll just have to pretend as best we can, and it if doesn't work, you've got your wand."

"But we're underage – "

Scorpius gave a resigned smile. "I think we're already in so much trouble, a little more won't hurt."

Just then, the door swung open and Officer Peterson re-entered the room, this time with a donut in hand. Sitting back down with a creak of protest from the chair, he looked from one boy to the other. "Wal, what's the verdict? Ya gonna let me talk ta yer parents?"

"Well, you see…sir," Scorpius said slowly, "Our parents are kind of out of town right now."

"Both yer parents and his?" Officer Peterson asked, pointing his donut at James.

"Yes, our families are…very good friends. And so we're not exactly staying with them right now…" He trailed off.

"Uh-huh." The officer peered at them suspiciously. "So who ah you stayin' with?"

"We're staying with, um, with…" James could see Scorpius desperately trying to think up a name. "With my aunt….uh…"

The door opened and a short, somewhat plump woman with curly brown hair burst in. "James! Scorpius!" she said breathlessly. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you two!" She began making a fuss of messing up their hair and brushing nonexistent dust off their shoulders. The two boys exchanged a bewildered look. _Who – ?_

Officer Peterson stood and came out from behind the table, hiking his pants up importantly. "Naow wait just a minute, ma'am, d'you know these two boys?"

"Oh, yes, of course," the woman said cheerfully, straightening up to face him. "They're staying with me at the moment – I'm their Aunt Millie."

"And can you verify – "

Before Officer Peterson could finish his sentence, the woman took a wand from her purse and pointed it at him. "Obliviate," she said firmly.

* * *

><p><em>Yay, my favorite character! No, not Peterson. Who is she? You'll find out...dun dun dun...<em>

_Thanks so much for reading! Have a marvelous day!_

_~Writey_


	7. Millie

_Wait, an actual UPDATE? Who am I, and what have I done with Writey? Well, whoever I am, I'm certaintly not JKR..._

**Millie**

Scorpius was dumbfounded. Officer Peterson stopped in his tracks, the donut falling from his hand to a messy landing on the tiled floor. His eyes slowly unfocused, mouth opening slightly as the muscles in his face relaxed. Scorpius turned to look at James, who stared back at him in equal confusion.

The woman claiming to be their aunt narrowed her eyes, biting her lower lip in concentration. "We were never here," she said slowly, imparting her words into the officer's mind. "This never happened."

"….Nevah happened…" Officer Peterson mumbled, swaying slightly. "Nevah…"

Lowering her wand, the woman turned to James and Scorpius. "Come on," she said urgently. "We've got to get out of here; I don't know how long that'll last." She made for the door. The two boys looked at each other, then slowly got up and followed her through the shining foyer and out the double doors (the man behind the desk did not seem to notice them leaving, if the unfocused look in his eyes was anything to go by).

Parked in the lot outside was an old greenish car. The boys got in back, managing to work out the seatbelts with less trouble this time. The woman strapped herself into the driver's seat and started the coughing engine. It was only when they were a few darkened streets away that she caught their eyes in the rearview mirror and introduced herself. "My name's Millie. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner – I'd only just managed to track you down."

"How…? I mean, do you…know who we are?" Scorpius spoke hesitantly, sure that at any moment they would be dragged back to Hogwarts and he'd be thrown in Azkaban for murder.

Millie smiled reassuringly at them. "I know who you are, and I've got a rough sketch of what's been going on, but don't worry, I'm not going to turn you in. I'm a bit ahead, you see; no one knows I've even heard about your little escapade yet, as I've just returned from Brazil. I spent a week there, it was very nice."

James blinked at this incongruous piece of information, but Scorpius almost chuckled, thinking that Millie reminded him somewhat of his mother. "Where are you taking us?" he asked, feeling lighter now that he knew they weren't in immediate danger of getting in trouble.

"My house," she answered. "You can stay with me until we've got this sorted out."

**************************J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S J/S******************************

_The moon was glowing in the sky, and he was a wolf again, yes, the ground was firm and cool under his paws, and his prey was running ahead of him, he would catch her, he was leaping and she was screaming, and he had her pinned down, his claws cut through her skin, there was blood, it was warm, he could smell it, he wanted to taste it _now_, he sank his fangs into her throat, and the blood was warm and energy coursed through his body, he was entering a bloodcraze and it was warmth and blood and her bones cracking under his paw, and his fangs were sharp and no one else was getting _his_ prey, no, her blood was his –_

"Scor!"

The blonde's eyes flew open to see James hovering over him worriedly. Where were they –? Oh. Millie's little brick house. In the guest room with the two beds. He had been dreaming – oh Merlin. The taste of the Slytherin girl's blood rushed back into his mouth, and he swallowed hard.

"Scor, are you okay?" James. Sitting on the edge of the bed, practically on top of him. Frowning.

Scorpius pushed himself into a sitting position. "Y-yeah. I was…dreaming about…" He shuddered. "I bit her throat, oh Merlin, it…it was…"

"You didn't really," James said reassuringly. "You just kind of… clawed her. Into the Whomping Willow. And….well, you didn't bite her."

Scorpius took a deep breath, gradually becoming aware that the thin cotton shirt Millie had lent him was sticking to his chest with sweat. He rubbed his face. The two sat in silence for some moments, and then James said, "Well, if you're all right…" He began to stand up, but Scorpius involuntarily moved to stop him.

He felt his face heating up. _Why did I do that?_ He and James looked at each other. The silence was rapidly becoming awkward. Scor's heart, only just calmed from the dream, began to beat faster again. He felt very strange.

Finally, James spoke. "Sometimes," he began slowly, "When someone has a nightmare, it takes them a while to get to sleep again…."

Scorpius gratefully seized this thread. "And it helps if there's…someone else there…to comfort them…"

"Do you want me to…?"

"If you don't mind…I mean…until I fall asleep again…you know…."

"Right." With that, James slid in bed next to him. Scorpius moved over to make room, an odd stirring sensation rising in his stomach. He rolled over abruptly to face the wall, very aware of the warm body beside him. Ironically, it was James who fell asleep first, leaving Scorpius to stare at the wall, tense and breathless, and wonder what in the heck was going on.

* * *

><p><em>AWWWWWWW! Was that adorably awkward or what? I know we didn't get to see much of Millie in this chapter, but the next one will really introduce her properly...when I get around to...writing it...*cough* Anyway, hope you enjoyed the update! And in case you're wondering, Scor's mother is Luna Lovegood. DRUNA FOREVER!<em>

_Have a magical day! Thanks for reading!_


End file.
